Dispatch from the test kitchen: Homemade pizza dough…

My kids love pizza night because it means they can help make dinner, from the dough making to the selection of the pizza toppings. The actual making of the pizza dough takes about 10 minutes total (you were expecting hours, weren’t you). We usually make the dough right after the boys are home from school, giving it a few hours to rise. But with our particular recipe, you can let it rise for even an hour and it still works and tastes delish.

Try it out:

1 bag of active dry yeast (we use Fleishmans)1/4 tsp. sugar1 cup hot tap water (the the hottest you can make it from the faucet will work)3 cups flour2 tbs olive oilsalt

1. In one bowl, add flour and salt.

2. In another glass bowl, sprinkle yeast and sugar on top of water. Let rest for about five minutes, when you should see tons of little bubbles formed on top of the water.

Your water/yeast mixture should look like this:

2. Pour yeast mixture on top of flour mixture and add the olive oil.

3. Mix the dough. I start with a spatula and then knead it with my hands for about 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and not overly sticky. If you find that it’s too sticky and pasty, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time. But be careful — you don’t want the dough to get too heavy. If you notice your hands covered in sticky dough, wash them and dip your hands in flour before kneading again.

4. Form the dough into a small ball and place in a bowl coated with olive oil.

5. Cover the bowl with several dish towels or another bowl (I use a wooden salad bowl). Place in a warm area free from drafts.

6.Let rise for one hour or longer until it’s doubled in size. Here’s what the dough looked like after two hours:

7. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

8. Turn dough onto lightly greased, large cookie sheet or pizza sheet. Roll it out into the shape of the sheet and to desired thickness. If the dough gets sticky again, add a tablespoon of flour, knead it again and let it rest for 10 minutes. Roll it out again and then add your toppings!

9. Bake for 18-20 minutes on the bottom rack of your oven.

10. Manga! (We call this version the “everything but the kitchen sink.”